Medium
by CursedPsyche
Summary: After Sakura has passed away, her book now sleeps in the library where it waits to be awakened. Medea, a young girl of the age 17, finds the Sakura and breaks its seal. However, instead of the Windy on top, it's the Firey. And as Medea unleashes its power
1. Chapter 01 Destiny

_Medea, the Greek mythological figure my parents named me after, was a powerful sorceress of the ancient world. When Jason and the Argonauts sought the Golden Fleece, the great warrior promised to marry the fair Medea in exchange for her help. In legend, Medea killed her beloved younger brother and cut him into pieces, then scattered the pieces behind the ship to help Jason escape. She restored the youth of Pelias by cutting his throat and filling his body with a magical potion. Medea tricked Pelias's daughters into killing him by cutting his throat, but did not leave any of the potion to restore his youth. Jason and Medea bore two children before Jason abandoned her to marry the King Creon's daughter. Medea took revenge by killing Jason's new lover with an enchanted poisoned cloak and a crown that burned the flesh of her body. When trying to embrace his dying daughter, King Creon died as well. She helped cure the great Heracles of the insanity that drove him to kill his children and tried to have Theseus killed to stop him from taking over the throne she and her husband held. This is the story of the great enchantress whose name was given to me. Just in this name bears great power and a magical destiny. I knew the meaning of my name since Junior High, but in my third year of high school, I did not know the calling that would await me..._

There was no better day in autumn than October 13 - the air was slightly chilly but warm for an autumn eve. The sun was floated above the western horizon, ready to escape the coming darkness. Medea stared at the sun noticing that instead of a small ball of white light, it was a pink disc, glowing brightly. It was one of the most gorgeous things that Medea had ever seen and this had been the first time she saw it.

She stepped inside of her house and took off her sneakers at the door. Medea glanced at the time - she had about three hours before she had to sing at her school's homecoming dance. Medea was a talented singer with an exceptional style of singing. Her music teacher would say that she could feel the emotion within song whenever Medea sang. She had just come home from singing the School Anthem at the homecoming game, which inspired spirit and support in the hearts of all her fellow students. Medea wished she would be able to stay and watch the game, but she needed to change before the dance.

Medea lived only with her uncle. Her parents passed away when she was very young, so she did not have any memories of them. Her uncle was working late tonight so Medea was home alone. Medea hopped in the shower and washed her hair. She then spent an hour straightening it. An hour before she had to leave, all Medea had to do was slip on her dress and shoes and she would be out the door. Medea began to practice singing as she finished putting on her make up. Still dressed in her pink pajamas with monkey prints all over them, Medea left the bathroom and ran downstairs.

On the table in the kitchen were a strawberry shortcake and a card. Medea smiled and opened the card "_Happy 16 and 365 days - Love, your Uncle." _Medea gave a small chuckle before taking a plate and a knife and fork. She was about to cut the cake when she heard a loud noise. Medea looked up quickly, but dismissed the noise and went back to cutting the cake. The sound echoed through her house again, this time louder. Medea grabbed the knife and began to walk into the dining room. The sound was now continuous, with a few breaks in between. Medea gripped the knife as she walked through the conservatory towards the library. The sound was now booming loud and it was apparent that it was coming from the library. Medea gathered all of her courage and opened the door. Nothing was there except for a trail of light emitting from the farthest of shelves. Medea followed the trial to a pink book entitled _The Sakura_. She pulled the book off the shelf and pulled open the seal, not noticing the pink glitter-like light that scattered from it. Inside the book was a stack of cards face down.

Medea pulled out the first card, "_The Firey_? Weird."

Medea put the card back into the book and closed the cover, leaving the seal open. Medea began to walk, not noticing the trail of fire she was leaving behind. Suddenly, a weird sorcery circle with a star in the middle appeared beneath her feet. An orange light emitted from the crease of the cover and smoke began to escape from the creases. The cover burst open and ribbons began to expel from inside the book leaving the house and disappearing into the sunset. Medea looked at the book and noticed that all the cards were gone, except for _The Firey_.

"What happened to the cards?" Medea asked, unsure whether or not she wanted to know.

In her hand, the book began to glow again, and Medea dropped it on the floor so that the back and front cover were face up. The face began to glow and a golden small stuffed animal arose from the light and cried out "Konniyachiwa!"

Medea's right eye grew small as she stared at the stuffed animal unsure of what exactly was happened. The golden beast began to talk to her in a language that she knew was Japanese, but could not decipher its meaning. "I'm sorry, I don't understand you."

"Ah, English. Clow Reed was English you know, that's how I know how to speak it."

Medea continued to stare at the animal "You are...?"

"Cerberus, but you can call me Kero. I am the guardian beast of the book of _Sakura_. It is my job to protect the cards placed in this-huh? Where are the cards?"

"See, it's kind of funny-" Medea began to explain.

"Lemme guess," Kero interrupted, "You opened the book and the first card was Windy, so you read its name and then a huge wind blew away all the cards."

"Not exactly..." Medea said. Kero looked at her signaling for her to continue, "You see, what had happened was...I um...came here to investigate a noise, and I saw the book, so naturally I opened it. And the first card was _The Firey_. I did say its name and I put it back in the book and closed it, so I think _The Firey_ kind of...um...uh..."

"Burned the cards?" Kero finished.

"To a crisp." Medea ensured. "Then these ribbon-like things came out of the book and scattered all over the place. I don't know where they went."

"You burnt the cards!" Kero shrieked. "How could you burn the cards! What are we supposed to contain the spirits in now?"

"How was I supposed to know?" Medea argued back. "I didn't know what they were!"

"So does that mean you play around with them?" Kero scolded, "Didn't your parents teach you not to mess around with things you don't understand?"

"My parents are dead!" Medea screamed back, causing Kero to stop in silence.

* * *

Medea cut Kero another piece of cake. "Today's your birthday?" he asked Medea, stuffing a piece down his throat. Medea nodded her head. "Friday the 13th. Cool day to be born on, don't you think?" Medea sighed and looked out the window at the waxing horned moon in the sky.

"So, this Sakura girl captured all the cards, and then transformed them into her own cards? And you expect me to do the same?"

"You can't," Kero replied. "Because _The Firey_ burnt the cards' original forms, we have nothing to contain the spirits in, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"It's risky," Kero added, "And it takes a lot of magical skill."

"What is it?"

Kero continued, "Unless, you hold the spirits within your own body." Medea looked at Kero calmly. "_Completely different reaction than I expected_", Kero thought.

Medea spoke, "Nope, can't do it."

Kero fell, "Why!"

"Are you serious? This doesn't make sense! This is a dream, just a really weird dream. I can't save the world! That stuff only happens in movies and in books, not in real life! There's a very real chance that I could die out there, or someone that I care about can be harmed because of me."

"You can do it, Medea."

"Yeah, why don't I just join Sailor Moon and help her and her warriors battle evil queens and demons named after gemstones and so that everyone all over the world can feel through heart crystals and dream through dream mirrors? Let me go transform now! Henshin yo!" Medea cried. "Kero, it's not happening. I understand that people have done it before, but it doesn't mean that I can do it. Being in those type of situations are not as easy as they seem. Anything could happen. I'm sorry; I wish I could help you."

"I need you to help me!" Kero begged. "Only you can do this because it was you who broke the seal. If you don't help the world, than terrible things will happen. Last time everyone almost lost the feeling of love! Do you know what the world would be like without love? Medea, I know I am asking a lot from you, and I know that this is going to be hard, but it has to be done. However, it cannot be done by anyone else! Please Medea! Please do it!"

Kero's speech brought tears to Medea's eyes. Medea's weakness was her compassion - you appeal to that and you would get her to agree to anything. "Fine. I'll help you. I know I'm gonna regret this."

Kero's tears disappeared quickly. He became solemn as if though he was never really crying, and Medea knew that she had been tricked. "Stand over there, Kero ordered." Medea stood in the center of her kitchen as Kero chanted:

_Key that hides the power of the wand_

_On this eve, let the sacred contract be signed_

_Bestow your power onto the new Captor_

_Let the sacred key be her portal_

_Let the sacred wand be her connection_

_Let her body be the medium _

_By my name and honor, Cerberus, Guardian of the Sakura_

_I anoint you, Medea, the Captor of the Spirits of Sakura_

_Release!_

_The pink key-a circle with a star inside and two wings both sides-grew into a wand with the same head as the key. "Take the wand Medea!" Medea took the wand and somehow she felt transformed and powerful. She continued to stare at it knowing that from this moment on, she was different. _

"Medea," Kero called, "You still have to capture _The Firey_ officially."

"How do I do that?" Medea asked, still looking at the wand.

"Just let the magic of the wand guide you," Kero instructed, "and don't try to control it, let its wisdom flow through you."

Medea took _The Firey_ card and threw it up in the air. She then raised the wand to meet the card. "_Spirit of Sakura, cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control. By the sacred contract I command you - FIREY_!" Orange ribbons emerged from the card as the card dissipated into the air. The ribbons surrounded Medea's form and entered her body through her chest.

"Nice!" Kero commented, "I think you'll do just fine." At that moment, Medea's cell phone began to ring. "Hey Suraiya," she answered. "...Oh yeah! I have to go to the dance! I totally forgot! Good thing you reminded me...all right...O.K...yeah...all right...O.K...bye." She closed the flip phone and grabbed her black dress with turquoise glitter shining all over it. "I have to go to the homecoming dance tonight, and sing a song."

"Cool!" Kero exclaimed gaining excitement, "Can I come?"

"No!" Medea immediately rejected, "Suppose someone sees you now?"

"No one will see me!" Kero replied, "I've done this for years and no one has saw me yet! I'll hide in your purse so that no one sees me."

"Fine," Medea gave in, "just be very quiet."

Medea went to the bathroom to slip on her dress. When she returned to the bedroom, she began to practice the song. "_Time has stopped...the earth no longer moves...nothing seems important...when I'm with you." _As she sang, lavender ripples appeared behind her and absorbed the vibration of her voice. "_Beyond all dreams...beyond the realms of space and time...I've never known what it is to truly love...as you have taught me this night..."_ She continued to sing in her best voice, allowing the ripples to receive the vibrations that neither she nor Kero seemed to notice. Once Medea completed the song, her cell phone rang. "You're outside...all right I'm coming. Let's go Kero!"

She slipped on her shoes and Kero hid inside her purse so that he could accompany her. She grabbed her purse and ran out the door. Outside the silver Mitsubishi Lancer was parked outside her house as her ride waited for her. "Hey Taran." Taran was the age twenty and in college. They have been good friends ever since he was a senior in her high school. His short black hair was scattered slightly above his hazel eyes. "You're late-"

"As always," Medea and Taran said in unison before driving off into the night.

* * *

"How is it that you managed to get stuck in traffic?" Medea scolded Taran as they both walked up and entered his college.

As one of the staff checked their tickets, Taran replied "You're always late, I'm sure they're use to it by now."

Medea and Taran walked toward the hall where the dance was held. "Yeah, but I'm usually 10-15 minutes late! Not 45 minutes!"

Medea and Taran were about to enter the hall when Taran stopped. "I left my cell phone in my car. You can go in and I'll run in get it."

Taran ran off and Medea entered the college's ballroom. The music was mellow and everyone was seating. When Medea walked in everyone applauded. Suraiya walked up to her and said "Finally! You're here! Now we can announce the homecoming king and queen and get this party started!"

So the ceremonies began, and Taran and Suraiya dominated the audience in cheers when Medea was announced to sing the dance song. Her voice seemed to echo throughout the hall as she sang every word with feeling and power. After the song was done, the dance floor started. While Suraiya, Taran, and Medea danced, Kero found his way out of Medea's purse and flew across the hall hidden from everyone's sight. He released a trail of glitter that seemed to rain from the ceiling. Kero spun around and wrote with light "Happy Birthday Medea" in the sky. No one seemed to notice it expect for Medea who smiled knowing that this was Kero's gift to her and maybe that her new magic was another gift for her as well. Maybe, it was a gift from destiny.

_At that point, I knew that everything about to happen would be either be amusing or challenging, maybe even both. But as I witnessed the amazing wonders that magic could bring I knew that whatever adversity awaited me, there would be some rewards to be reaped. I knew I had made a loyal and trustworthy friend in Kero and I felt a strange sense of security with him. For some reason, it seemed to me as if though the connection that Kero and I shared was beyond time and space. Maybe, in some way, fate had caused all of this to happen. As I look back on that day, all I see is coincidence. It was a coincidence that my uncle wasn't home. It was a coincidence that I began to hear the noise in the farthest room that I could possibly hear it in. But as I walked into the library, the book seemed to call to me. I was too oblivious of it to understand it's power then, but now, as I look back, the book called to me. It said for me to open it just as I seemed to read the name of the Firey, conjuring it's power for no reason at all. It seems as if though the circumstances that occurred on my 17th birthday could not be avoided. Whatever the case, at that point, when I gazed at the message Kero wrote in light and glitter, I knew that I would not regret it. _


	2. Chapter 02 The Most Beautiful Voice

_When I woke up that Saturday afternoon, I forgot who I was. I thought I was normal! Well, in a way, I still am - I still have to go to school, therefore, I still am. I stayed in bed a little while, thinking about everything last night. The story Kero told me about that girl, Sakura - she had some good times when she was capturing the cards. Perhaps, I would too, that was my comfort zone. I have to admit though, when Kero told me about the Firey Card and how Sakura had to capture it, that's when it hit me. What makes me think that I could do this? What makes me think that I could survive this? Sakura had come up with strategies that I don't think I'm creative enough to come up with. She had to think on the spot and be prepared for anything. Can I do that? I can't even program a VCR much less handle magic. Nevertheless, if this was truly meant for me, as Kero believes, than what will be, will be. Qué sera sera. _

_"You're worse than Sakura!" Kero commented, waking up Medea. _

Medea rubbed her eyes before putting on her glasses. "What do you mean?"

"It's almost 1 o clock in the afternoon and now you're waking up?" Kero fluttered around the room restlessly.

"So? It's Saturday." Medea dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom. In a half an hour, she returned. Her hair was combed, her contacts were on, but she was still in her baby blue pajamas.

"I'm hungry," Kero complained. "Got anything to eat?"

"Why didn't you go downstairs and look in the fridge?" Medea asked walking downstairs.

Kero followed behind her, "I thought your uncle was home. Guess he's not."

"He had to work today." Medea made a sandwich and split it with Kero.

"Any weird dreams lately?" Kero asked with his mouth filled with food.

Medea looked at him suspiciously, "Am I supposed to be having weird dreams?"

Kero shrugged. "I don't know. Sakura used to have weird dreams all the time. Pretty prophetic ones at that. Did you get a dream about the book?"

"Not that I can remember. Is that a bad thing?"

At first, Kero looked surprised, but then quickly conceal it with a smile. "No, I'm sure that they'll come in their own time." Kero looked away and thought, "_It is unnerving that she doesn't show any signs of magical powers. Both Sakura and Clow had prophetic dreams, but she doesn't seem to. It could be nothing, but then again, it could be something."_ Medea's cell phone rang breaking Kero out of his thoughts.

Medea picked it up and answered it. "What do you mean you're in front of my house...oh yeah, that's today...all right, give me five minutes."

Medea hung up the phone and Kero asked what happened. Medea ran upstairs to her room after finishing her sandwich and threw on a pair of dark blue jeans with a white wash and a black t-shirt. Kero asked the where Medea was going and she replied, "I have to go to volleyball practice".

"What am I supposed to do all day?" Kero asked watching Medea put on her sneakers.

"I dunno, find something." Medea closed the door behind her, leaving Kero alone in the room. "Find something!" He asked in disbelief. "There's absolutely nothing to do in here! I see board games - not fun with only one person...teddy bears - like I haven't had enough of those...a computer - don't know how to work it...a weird black cube thing with controllers - that looks weird...a shelf of video games - video games! All right! Then that weird cube thing must be a console!" He pops in the video game disc and the game starts. "Nintendo Gamecube! Must be new! Soul Calibur 2? Sounds interesting!"

* * *

Medea took her place behind the net. One of the girls on the other side served the ball and Medea trailed under it calling "I got it, I got it." Medea hit the ball straight up and Suraiya bumped it over the net. The other team returned the ball and another girl on the team hit it again. As the game progressed, Medea noticed a visitor in the gymnasium watching the girls play. Medea attention went back to the ball as she hit it once over and the ball touched the ground on the other side.

"Michelle, your serve," the coach said, and Michelle went to the back to serve as the others moved over one place.

Medea stared at the visitor in the corner. He didn't seem to be watching the other girls, but instead, seemed to be watching _her_. His hair was dark and fell over his face slightly and his eyes were dark as well, but they were cold and emotionless. He seemed to be older, about Taran's age and she knew he didn't go to this school. As Medea took small glances at him, he stared at her fearlessly.

"10 serving 12" Michelle announced before striking the ball up into the air.

Medea paid close attention to the ball, but every time she turned to her right, she couldn't help but notice him there.

"Medea!" Suraiya called, and Medea leaned forward to barely hit the ball over the net.

Medea stared at him again and she felt something pull her. She fell back slightly and she became dizzy as her eyes blurred. She closed them and when she opened them again, she was somewhere else. The same person who had asphyxiated her with his glance was now running, dressed in fencing gear. Medea saw herself lifting the star wand above her head and he came and pushed her own.

"Medea!" The volleyball came in her direction and hit her on her head.

Suraiya began laughing, "Are you all right?"

Medea gave a confused laugh, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Medea!" the coach called laughing, "Either pay attention or get checked out for ADD!"

Medea looked in the direction of the visitor who was nowhere to be found. "Did you see him?" Medea asked Suraiya.

"See who?" Suraiya asked. "Are you all right!"

"Serena!" the coach called, "Serve!"

Medea flagged her hand as Suraiya moved back to her position. The ball was served and the girl behind Suraiya hit it over. Medea began to hear her voice in the background singing the very song she had sung last night at the homecoming game. She dismissed it as her own thoughts and hit the ball as it came toward her. The ball hit the net and fell to the ground.

"Nice try!" one of the girl encouraged. The song was growing louder as the ball was served. Medea tried to pay attention but the song kept distracting her. Medea hit the ball straight up and the girl behind her came to hit it over. The ball came back to Suraiya who bumped it up. Medea settled herself under the ball and was staring up waiting for it. Suddenly, lavender light caught her eyes and she turned, and the ball fell directly in front of her. Medea continued to stare outside the window of the gym and in the baseball field; she saw ripples of lavender vibrating to the same beat as Medea's song.

"Medea!" Michelle called, "That was an easy hit!"

"Do you see that?" Medea asked her, and Michelle and Suraiya looked out the window.

Suraiya placed her hand on Medea's forehead. "I think you need a vacation."

"Don't you hear it?"

"I think she needs a therapist!" Michelle joked returning to her spot.

Medea positioned herself to be ready for the ball. As the Serena served, Medea took one last suspicious look at the window. _I need to talk to Kero. _

* * *

Medea returned home from practice to find Kero playing her video games. She didn't care much, just so long as he didn't destroy anything. However, as he was ignoring her words, she paused the game and unplugged the controller.

"What do you want?" he asked in an irritated tone.

"You know for a teddy bear with such big ears, you'd think that you would listen better." Kero grunted as Medea sat down on her bed. "I think I saw a Sakura Spirit today."

"Really, where? What did it look like? How did you feel?"

"Calm down." Medea sighed. "I saw it at school. It was kind of pinkish-purplish and it looked like ripples from a pond. And it was singing the song I sang last night, but in the exact same voice as me!"

Kero nodded his head, assuring his thoughts. "That must be the _Song _Card. Did you feel anything?"

"I dunno," Medea replied, pondering. "I felt it there, that's why I looked."

"This is your first test Medea," Kero proclaimed, "Are you ready?"

"To fight against something with absolutely no idea of what I'm doing?" Medea replied sarcastically, "Of course!"

* * *

The school seemed abandoned, but the night sky was filled with stars. Kero and Medea entered the baseball yard, but there was nothing to be found.

"This is where you found it?" Kero asked.

"I didn't _find_ it, I _saw _it, and this is where I saw it."

Kero fluttered around, looking for a clue. "I do sense it. It was here."

"So what exactly does this card do?" Medea asked walking around.

"Its goal is to capture the most beautiful voice," Kero explained, "which in this case would be yours."

"Aww, I'm flattered."

"Well now's not the time," Kero replied, "We have to-"

"Whoa!" Medea cried out, "Who is that?" Kero looked in the direction Medea pointed and they saw someone run across the field and into the school. "How did he get in? The school's not open this late! Unless some idiot forgot to lock the door."

"Don't just stand here!" Kero ordered, "Follow him!"

Medea and Kero ran across the field towards the school. They stopped at the door, and Medea tried to open it, but it was locked.

"How did he get in?" Kero asked, investigating the door.

"How are _we _gonna get in?" Medea asked, looking around.

"_Firey_?" Kero contemplated.

"NO!" Medea immediately dismissed, "I'm not gonna burn the door down! I could get arrested for that!"

"You could also get arrested for being on school property this late!" Kero pointed out.

"All the more reason not to attract attention by lighting a fire!"

"What do you suggest then?"

Medea sighed and looked around. Her eyes fell upon a window opened up to the safety lock. "Well, Kero go for it!" She looked at the window and hinted for Kero to try to slip in. "You can open the door from the inside."

Kero flew over to the window and stuck his head in. He pulled his body forward and his body continued to slip through, until it stopped moving. "Uh oh." Kero pulled and pulled, but he was stuck.

"I think it's time you go on a diet," Medea suggested as she pushed Kero in. Kero fell to the ground on his head. "I need a new job." He sighed as he flew over to the door and opened it. Medea entered the school and looked around. Nothing. She walked out of the cafeteria and into the hallway. She walked up the stairs slowly and towards the row of classrooms. Medea sighed as she was growing restless. Just then, a noise echoed down the hallway.

"What was that?" Kero asked as he and Medea looked at each other. Medea slowly approached the classroom from which the noise came from. She peered in and it was empty.

"Nothing?" Kero asked, and Medea nodded. Medea began to back up as she turned around.

Medea gasped. "Suraiya! What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell are _you _doing here?" Suraiya asked back. The two looked at each other suspiciously before Suraiya suggested, "I won't ask if you won't."

"Done." Medea replied.

At that moment, Medea's voice began the echo through the hallways. Her voice was loud, clear and elegant, but she wasn't singing.

"That's you, isn't it?" Suraiya asked, Medea nodded "no" and Suraiya began to back away, "So then what is it?"

"_The Song _Card!" Kero announced as he flew towards the direction the song was coming.

"Kero wait!" Medea called, running after him.

Suraiya was left alone in the hallway. "Do I want to follow them?" she asked herself. "I'm gonna regret this." She sped off after them, calling after Medea to wait.

Kero stopped outside the classroom where _The Song _was singing. "You can't go up to it directly," Kero informed Medea in a whisper. "Try singing to bring it out."

Medea nodded and began to sing loudly so _The Song_ could hear her. The two voices mixed in harmoniously at first, but the voice of _The Song _stopped. The lavender ripples came out and appeared before Medea. _The Song_ began to sing again, trying to overpower Medea's singing.

"Now!" Kero called, "Seal it the way I taught you!"

"_Key that hides the power-"_ The moment Medea stopped singing _The Song_ disappeared. "What happened?"

"You can't sing and seal it at the same time," Suraiya replied. Kero and Medea looked at her. "What? I catch on fast! I don't know what's going on, but I'll act like it."

"Suraiya, you can sing!" Medea announced. "Sing! Now!"

"It won't work," Kero interrupted, "_The Song_ will only come if the voice is better than yours."

Medea nodded her head in opposition. "I don't think so. I think _The Song_ wants to out sing someone. So if the song hears Suraiya singing, it'll come, won't it?"

Suraiya began to sing as best as she could. Her voice was beautiful, but it wasn't as emotional as Medea's. As Suraiya continued, _The Song _appeared before her and began to sing trying to overcast Suraiya's voice. Suraiya sung louder, and the voice of _Song _became louder. _The Song _now transformed into its original form and was singing the loudest.

"Now Medea!" Kero called.

Medea pulled the star key off her neck and held it in her hand. "_Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal thy true form to me! This by the contract, Medea commands thee! Release!" _The star key grew into the wand and Medea placed it in front of _The Song_. _"Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! SONG!"_ The spirit of _The Song_ broke up into lavender ribbons that surrounded Medea and entered her body. When the ribbons disappeared, a Japanese symbol that represents _The Song_ glowed bright lavender on her forehead, then disappeared.

"Good job Medea!" Kero cheered as Medea fell back.

"What happened?" Suraiya asked, pulling Medea up, "Are you all right?"

"It takes a lot of magic to hold the spirits within you," Kero told her. "You will be a lot more tired from now on."

"Oh great," Medea sighed, "As if I don't have enough stress in my life."

"I think I'll ask later than," Suraiya said to herself, gaining a cold stare from Medea.

Off in the shadows, the visitor that was watching Medea earlier appeared. "So this is the chosen one. We'll see how she can handle some competition." With a snap of his finger, he disappeared completely into the shadows.

* * *

Suraiya sipped some of the iced tea Medea had set out for her. Kero continued to explain, "And she turned over the first card, and it was _The Firey, _but she didn't know what it was so she read it's name out loud and-"

"Whoa! Stop right there!" Suraiya commanded, "You read its name out loud? Don't you know better! I mean come on! Friday the 13th, home alone, weird noises, weird book in basement, weird cards and you read its name aloud! Are you a dumbass!"

"I know right!" Kero agreed, "Don't you think!" Suraiya and Kero continued to reproach Suraiya about her mistake as she just stared and smiled.

_Now that my best friend was with me, I wasn't that scared anymore. Don't get me wrong, Kero is a good friend and everything, but I was afraid that I would let him down. However, Suraiya seemed to give me a sense of self-confidence that I can't really find anywhere else. Suraiya has always been a good friend to me and I am in great debt to her for it. However, I feel sort of guilt to have to share my burden with her. Nevertheless, she would probably say that she would take it willingly, or that it's not a burden, it's a purpose. Suraiya is the type that loves to help out people, but complains about it all the time. Therefore, as Suraiya and Kero bonded through my stupidity, I knew that she was happy to help me. It would be hard for me to keep a secret this big from her, especially since she knows me too well. She's one of those types that can just sense when something is wrong or out of place, like she did today during volleyball practice. She never once doubted that there was someone there watching me. But she never really agreed with me. Whoever was watching me knew about my magic, I could tell, and I don't think I'm just being paranoid on this one. Why else would he have such a cold stare at me? He could be evil, like those demons you see on TV. I had best tell Kero about him, but at that point, I had completely forgotten about it. I know that whoever that was is going to show up again, probably sometime soon. I need to be prepared for him, before something happens to Kero or Suraiya. The future is as uncertain to me as who he is and what he wants. But if there is one thing that I would bet money on, it's that I will never find out why Suraiya was at the school so late. _


	3. Chapter 03 The Edge

_The last couple of days since I captured The Song were quiet. Nothing really interesting happened unless you care about Taran. He has been such a good friend of mine since my freshman year, and I believe I had a crush on him ever since. He was one of those types though - you know, those types that sometimes they seem like they like you and sometimes they don't. Sometimes he would look me directly in the eye and show such interest when I would talk to him, and other times he would avoid me and just converse with other girls. It was at those times that I felt insecure. There was just something about him that made me feel comfortable. And whenever he would look into my eyes, I could feel the world around me stop so that I may bask in the moment. This is a part of me that I have never told anyone, not Suraiya and not Kero. I contemplated telling them, but something inside of me would hold me back and silence the words. One day I would tell them, just not today. Tell Taran? If I can't tell Suraiya or Kero, what makes you think I can tell him? I don't know, maybe someday I will tell him. I believe that there will be that one moment that Fate seems to grant you and everything just leads up to this one moment - that one perfect moment that those three powerful words could be uttered. Although that moment hasn't come yet, I spend many times wondering whether or not I missed that moment, that maybe I missed my one and only shot. I get paranoid about those things though, and all I can do is hope. In the past days I didn't get a chance, mainly because I didn't see him much. The only time I actually talked to Taran is when he invited Suraiya and me to watch the Fencing Tournament at his school. Taran was one of those guys that got involved in every sport that I could think of. It was weird though, because as interested as I was in Taran, I was more interested in meeting the two most famous members of his "clique": Zahur and Arlen. Anytime you would call him, he would always be either talking to or going to hang out with those two. Any crazy story he told involved those two. They were the other two competing in the Fencing Tournament. Fencing seemed to remind me of that vision I had. But as I thought about it, I could not remember the person's face, nor could I remember exactly what the vision was about. All I remember is that is had something to do with fencing. Therefore, I just brushed it off as some memory lapse (I had a lot of those) and never told anyone about it. It didn't expect that I wouldn't tell them as late as I did. _

The sounds of Soul Calibur 2 woke Medea up in the morning. She grabbed the adapter wire and pulled her cell phone towards her to turn off the alarm. Medea rolled to the right and fell onto the floor.

"Hah!" Kero laughed, "That's what you get!"

"Hah yourself," Medea moaned as she picked herself up, "I do that on purpose. It's the only way I'll actually get out of bed."

An half an hour later, Medea returned from the bathroom to her room and slipped on black jeans with a red quarter-sleeved shirt. She grabbed her book bag and her cell phone. "Do you have your phone Kero?" Medea asked. Suraiya and Medea had both chipped in to buy him a prepaid cell in case of "unfortunate events" as they coded it. Kero nodded his head and wished Medea a good day at school as she left the room. Medea waved goodbye to her uncle.

"You're going to be late today, right?" her uncle asked her.

"Yeah, I'm going to the Fencing Competition."

"You have your cell phone?" Medea pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to him. "Have a nice day."

"You too." Medea put on her sneakers and walked out of the house where Suraiya awaited her.

* * *

Suraiya and Medea walked through the gates of the parking lot and saw a police van parked a couple of feet away from the doors.

"Great, scanning," Suraiya said monotonously. The two took their place on a long line as they waited. "Aren't you excited? We finally get to meet the two people that make me question Taran's sexuality!" Medea laughed slightly. "I swear, if even one of them seems gay, I'm gonna question him."

Medea gave him a skeptical look, "I don't think he is."

"Think about it, when was the last time he had a girlfriend?"

"That doesn't mean anything," Medea defended, "Maybe he's just looking for someone in particular."

"_Maybe_ that _someone _is a guy." Medea gave Suraiya another skeptical look before they swiped their IDs and entered the school. The day seemed to go by slow for Medea, at least the first two classes did. Her U.S. history class was especially boring because her teacher just talked about the Progressive Era and its social reforms and her Calculus class was always boring; it was the worse class of the day.

The rest of the day went by fast and finally it was time for the Fencing Tournament. Suraiya and Medea met Taran at their school and he drove them to the college where the tournament was going to be held. Once there, Suraiya and Medea took their seats and awaited the tournament to start. After an half an hour of waiting, Taran walked towards them with two other guys. Both of them had dark hair and dark eyes and close to the same complexion. However, the taller of the two was slightly darker than the other.

Medea and Suraiya gave each other a bright smile before they stood up to meet Taran and his two friends. Taran introduced them, "Suraiya, Medea this is Zahur and Arlen." Arlen was the shorter of the two who wore a gentle smile on his face as opposed to Zahur whose smile was more flirtatious and seductive.

"Ah, we've heard a lot about you two," Suraiya greeted. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same to you," Zahur replied, "He always said you were beautiful, but I guess words can't describe." Suraiya blushed and looked at Medea who rolled her eyes. "And this is Medea, a girl with beauty that is magic on its own." Medea's eyes shot toward Zahur who gave her a seductive smile. The word "magic" has kept her on edge lately; anyone who mentioned it she would be suspicious of. Medea didn't believe in coincidence, at least, not anymore. "She does talk much." Zahur was still looking at her but speaking to Suraiya.

"No, she does. Things just kind of got a little hectic lately." Suraiya smiled at the inside joke she just made. "Anyway where are you from?"

"That-" Zahur paused slightly and then smiled, "is, more or less, a mystery."

Medea could tell that Suraiya got confused by the answer and decided to help keep the conversation going. "I heard you were last years' fencing competition winner. How long have you been fencing?"

"Well, I'm trained in all sword fighting techniques, and out of all of them I'd say fencing is the easiest. I've been training in all techniques as small as I could hold a sword."

"Is it like a family thing?"

"It is for me," Zahur replied, "but as you know, some people achieve skills that do not require it to be of lineage." There was a glimmer in Zahur eyes that caused Medea to shiver. Medea wondered if Suraiya was picking up the same things Medea was. Or was she just paranoid?

"What about Arlen?" Suraiya asked, looking at Medea.

Medea was unsure of what Suraiya meant, but Zahur answered the question. "Arlen doesn't know where he is from."

"I'm adopted," Arlen replied warmly, "My parents died when I was very young."

"I'm sorry," Medea and Suraiya replied simultaneously.

Arlen smiled, "Don't worry about it. Sometimes blood isn't enough to determine who your real parents are. Don't get me wrong, I love my biological parents too. It's just that I can't love them more than the mother and father who raised me for fifteen years."

"Medea's parents died when she was young too," Taran mentioned.

Zahur suddenly became interested again. "Really? How old were you?"

"I was about seven at the time," Medea answered. "and I live with my uncle now - my dad's brother. My mother and father died in an airplane crash. I was lucky enough to survive."

"Very lucky indeed," Zahur said solemnly. His attention seemed to be focused on the swords and he stared at them suspiciously. Medea did not expect an attitude change to be so sudden. She would've asked him what was wrong, but Taran mentioned the competition was about to start and that they should take their places.

The tournament began five minutes later. Queens College, the college that Taran, Zahur and Arlen attended, had a perfect record and were on their way to the semi-finals. But Baruch College had a perfect record as well, and this was the game that would determine which of the two schools would advance. The best of three duels would win the tournament. The first duel included Arlen, who was very talented with the sword. His feet positioning was perfect, and his movements were graceful. He defended himself very well, but his weakness was attacking past his opponent's defenses. The Baruch's fencer was very skilled, and after a long and tough battle, Arlen was defeated. Zahur, next to duel, was especially good at getting around others defenses, and he seemed flawless. Every move of his seemed like a perfectly choreographed dance with every move of his opponents fitting into his. The crowd seemed very impressed, and they should be, as Zahur took the victory.

Finally, Taran was up. Taran was better than Suraiya and Medea expected him to be. He his slashes and thrusts were faster than his opponents and his defenses were simple and quick. With one final blow, Taran slashed and disarmed his opponent. As Taran held the edge of the sword at his opponent's neck as a signal of the defeat, the commentator announced that Queens College was the winner and would advance to the semi-finals.

The gymnasium cleared out and all that was left were Suraiya, Medea, and Taran. "Bet you didn't think we would win," Taran mocked.

Medea crossed her arms, "On the contrary, you made it this far, if you didn't win, then we'd have to kill you."

Taran smiled sarcastically as he drew a sword and began thrusting it into the air. Medea grabbed her stomach and stumbled back a little as the sword began to glow blue again, this time spreading across Taran's body.

"What is it?" Suraiya asked Medea, holding her up.

"A Sakura Spirit," Medea stuttered trying to control her breath, "Inside the sword."

Taran grabbed the sword and thrusted at Medea. The two girls screamed as Suraiya pulled Medea away and the two fell onto the floor.

"What's wrong with him?" Suraiya cried as she pulled herself up.

"The sword!" Medea cried out, "It must be controlling him!" Taran sprinted toward Medea and thrusted the sword into the floor, missing Medea by a centimeter. As she screamed and rolled away, she cried, "It's after me!"

"I'll call Kero!" Suraiya pulled out her cell phone and called Kero. As she demanded Kero to come, Medea continued to dodge Taran's efforts to kill her.

Kero showed up a couple minutes later and called out "Summon the wand!"

Medea held Taran's arm as she struggled to stop him from stabbing her, "I'm kind of busy here!" Suraiya ran up and pushed Taran to the ground and Taran now turned on her. Medea pulled out the key and chanted "_Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal thy true form to me! This by the contract, Medea commands thee! Release!"_ The star key transformed into the wand. "Uh...What do I do now?"

"Hurry and think of something!" Suraiya called back. Taran was about to take other thrust at her when he stopped and turned back to Medea.

"Uh oh." Medea said to herself and she watched Taran leap high into the air and dive towards her, with the edge of the sword coming at her.

"Look out!" Suraiya cried, and Medea tightened her grip above the wand and held it above her head, ready to block the attack. Taran plunged and Medea felt someone push her down. When she opened her eyes, she saw the white cloth of someone's clothes and nothing else. The person got up and ran off, disappearing before Medea could see his face. "Who was that?" Suraiya asked Medea.

Medea shrugged, then Kero flew from behind her and handed her a sword. "You want me to fight him! I can't fight him!"

"Just try!" Suraiya called back.

Medea and Taran were now engaged in a duel. Medea accessed a part of her she didn't know existed, but it seemed to know how to fence as her sword clashed with Taran's. They exchanged offensive and defensive techniques for about five minutes, but no one was getting anywhere.

"It's not working! He's too good." Suraiya yelled at Kero. Kero concentrated on the two, putting all his faith into Medea. "Come on Medea! Do something! _Anything!_"

Medea continued to block all his attempts, until she stopped. "Screw this!" Medea cried out and threw the sword to the floor. Taran stopped and gave her a puzzled look.

"What are you doing?" Suraiya asked, panicking.

Taran moved in and lunged at her once more. Medea grabbed his arm and pushed it aside. As she moved the sword out of her way, she thrusted her fist straight forward and punched in straight in the face.

Suraiya and Kero flinched back as they cried out "Oh!" at the same time. Taran fell back onto the floor as blue ribbons escaped from his body and the sword floated in mid-air.

In the shadows, a hidden figure wearing white clothes said to himself "Nice arm."

"_Damn_!" Suraiya commented, "He's gonna fell that one when he wakes up."

_Kero yelled out, "Now seal The Sword Card!" _

Medea held the wand above her head. "_Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! SWORD!" _The sword turned into ribbons and entered Medea's body. Suraiya ran to Taran who was still on the floor begun to come to.

"What happened?" he asked, rubbing his head.

Medea hid the wand behind her and yelled "Didn't I tell you stop being so damn arrogant? I told you one day I was gonna clock ya in ya face, and I did! So don't even complain. You deserved it!"

Taran looked at Medea who shrugged and Kero slipped out of a window, not drawing any attention to himself.

_Did it hurt to punch Taran like that? I'll just say that I didn't regret it. It was kind of a stress reliever for me. Besides, it made for good stories. I still don't know who saved me from Taran's blow, but I figured it was the same person I had the premonition about. But that day I discovered that I had many hidden talents that I had yet to discover. Being a damn good fencer was one of them. But I don't think that I'm going to challenge Zahur just yet. He was really good, and it seemed that he knew who I was. It also seemed that he knew that one of the swords had the spirit inside of it. Normally, knowing myself, I would be very suspicious of him and watching him closely. But also knowing myself, I was distracted by the Sword Card and completely forgot to tell Kero again about the guy who was watching me play Volleyball. I still have yet to use any of the Spirits that I hold inside of me, but I know eventually that one day I will have to. I just hope that when that day comes, I will be ready for it. Then again, I'm not ready for anything. The only thing I can do is expect the unexpected. As if though I haven't heard that five million times. Who know? Maybe it will work. I guess we just have to wait and see. _


	4. Chapter 04 Dodgeball

_It seems to me that Arlen and I became closer over the last couple of days. It wasn't that I had a crush on him or anything - we just became closer friends. I think it was mostly because we could relate to each other. It started when we met each other that Saturday in the mall. I was buying presents for a couple of people and we ran into each other and talked while we shopped. Ever since that day, we've hung around each other a lot. Taran and Zahur often joined us, but we mostly hung around each other. Taran's excuse for the black and blue swell in his cheek entertained Suraiya and me. He would tell others that he fell when he rode his bike or that he was hit in the face when playing soccer. Soccer...yeah. Suraiya and I knew the truth and stole a laugh everytime someone asked him about it. It had been eight days since it happened, but it seemed to be getting better. Zahur suggested that the three of them attend our Volleyball game this Wednesday. It was in the middle of the season and we had a record of 8-2, which wasn't as good as our rival school John Bowne, and their record of 10-0. Many people would be attending that game, so I can't afford the episodes that happened that Saturday during practice. I hope a Sakura Spirit wouldn't appear at the game, but then again, I have no control over that._

Suraiya jumped on one of the benches in the girl's locker room and gazed out to the street. Her head moved from left to right as she studied all the cars that parked outside. Medea took off her gym shirt and threw it into her square locker. "Are they here yet?"

"Don't see 'em." Suraiya jumped off the bench and began to put on her sneakers. "Did you bring Kero?"

Medea threw her jersey over her head. "No, he's at home. He's enjoying playing Yoshimitsu in Soul Calibur 2. Once you get him started, he just won't stop."

Michelle passed through the small row of lockers, "Big game! Big game! You guys ready?"

"To lose?" Suraiya replied, "Sure, why not?"

Michelle began twisting the knob on her lock. "We could at least try to win."

Medea tied the laces on her sneakers, "Yeah and in the process we will either get snuffed in the stomach by a ball or get snuffed in the face like Taran." Medea and Suraiya laughed and Michelle looked at them clueless. "They play madd hard," Medea added, "someone always gets seriously injured after playing with them."

"We never do," Michelle pointed out. "We've played against them this year and we didn't get hurt."

Suraiya couldn't resist reminding Michelle, "We lost that game 25-4. Nobody really tried! Everyone was too busy looking out for themselves."

Medea agreed as she closed the lock on her locker, "Yeah! It was more like a game of dodgeball than volleyball!"

"Well then," Michelle said, raising her bottle of water for a toast, "To good health. May we be able to walk and not limp out of John Bowne's gym today." Medea and Suraiya raised their bottles and drank from them. "Good luck anyway."

* * *

There was an eerie sense of pain in John Bowne's gym when Suraiya and Medea walked in. Medea shivered slightly and crossed her arms. Taran, Zahur and Arlen walked behind them. They all gazed around at the cold and foreboding walls.

"Medea," Suraiya breathed in a low and fearful voice. Medea looked at Suraiya and studied her paling face as she said "I'm scared."

"So, you guys are gonna win today right?" Taran asked placing his arms on Medea's shoulders rubbing them slightly. Medea blushed slightly as her muscles warmed to his touch. Suraiya just laughed mockingly with doubt.

"Come on," Zahur replied, "They can't be that good." Suraiya repeated the same laugh she gave Taran.

Arlen smiled warmly and encouraged them, "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"You know," Zahur included, "If they beat you, I'm going to have to stop being friends with you."

Medea looked at him skeptically, "I'm sorry. When were you our friend?"

Zahur shot a disgusted look at Medea who returned it to him. Taran, Zahur and Arlen took their seats in the stands as the volleyball game started. Medea and Suraiya took their places in the middle row and exchanged nervous sighs as John Bowne took their places. Medea felt a cold tingle in her stomach that jolted up her spine. Her eyes met Suraiya's and Medea's lips mouthed "Sakura Spirit".

"Where?" Suraiya whispered back.

"I don't know," Medea replied. "It's seems to be coming from all directions."

The volleyball was served by Michelle and the game commenced. The ball was flying everywhere at rapid speeds. Medea hit the ball most of the times scoring her team five points. As the game progressed, the scores stayed within range of each other. Suraiya took her place behind the line to serve the ball and the scored was 14-12, with Bowne in the lead. As Suraiya steadied the ball within her hand, Medea noticed a pastel pink glow around it. Slightly opaque wings emerged from the ball the exact moment Suraiya hit it up. Once it reached its maximum height from the ground, it stopped moving.

"Everything stopped moving," Medea pointed out. She looked around, the crowds were completely still. The other players stayed in the same position. It seemed like a perfect photograph, preserving the moment. However, for some reason, Medea and Suraiya were able to move.

"What's going on?" Suraiya asked walking up to Medea.

At that moment, the ball seemed to break free. Medea noticed the ball was headed directly toward them at a dangerous speed. "Look out!" Medea cried, pushing Suraiya onto the floor. The ball hit the ground hard and bounced up high into the air. It settled itself directly above the two girls and plunged down. Suraiya and Medea rolled in opposite directions.

"What the hell is that?" Suraiya asked, getting up from the floor.

"A Sakura Spirit!" Medea called back.

The ball bounced down, then soared up into the sky and aimed for Medea. Medea turned and began to run. The ball bounced up and down as it pursued her. She ducked under the net to the other side and cried out as the ball broke through the net leaving a big hole.

"MEDEA!" Kero called out as he flew in through the window. "It's _THE JUMP_!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Medea yelled as she turned, causing the ball to slam into a wall.

"Try using another one of the cards," Kero instructed, "Just call upon its power!"

"Which one though?" Suraiya asked, standing at the side of Kero.

"That is up to Medea."

The ball continued to pursue Medea and turned around once again. She held out her arms and allowed the ball to fly into her. The ball threw her into a wall and escaped from her grasp.

"Medea!" Suraiya and Kero called out simultaneously.

Medea stumbled a bit in pain as she got up from the floor. She pulled out the star key and chanted the words to transform it into the wand. She twirled the star wand and held it firmly in front of her. "_Spirit of _THE SWORD, _I summon your powers from within me. Emerge now and obey my command! _RELEASE_!" _Blue ribbons emerged from Medea's body and surrounded the star wand, changing it into a sword. The ball bounced back towards her and began to attack again. With one final jump into the air, the ball bounced up and charged toward Medea. Medea swung the sword once, causing the ball to splithalf. The two halves fell to the floor and a swirl of light turned into a pink ball of fuzz, with two beady eyes and a tail.

"_Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true fo-"_ Before Medea was able to finish sealing _The Jump_, it hopped away. It jumped up high and landed back on the ground where Suraiya threw herself onto it, grabbing it and pinning it to the floor.

"Now Medea!" Suraiya demanded, "Hurry!"

Medea raised the wand above her head "_Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! JUMP!" _The spirit burst into pink ribbons that escaped into Medea's body. Medea sighed as she fell to the floor, still in pain from slamming into a wall.

"What happened to the people?" Kero asked, looking around. "This isn't the work of a Sakura Spirit."

Suraiya and Medea exchanged worried looks. "Then what is it?" Medea asked.

Kero shrugged and Medea and Suraiya both looked at each other. Off in the shadows, the same visitor took two steps in deeper after saying to himself, "A power beyond yours. Until you are ready..." Then, he waved his hand and the scene unfroze. He then disappeared into the shadows. A confused crowd looked around as they saw a hole in the net and a ball split into two.

Everyone stared at Suraiya who replied, "Hey, you ain't the only ones that can play hard!"

Soon after, the game commenced. The game was well played on both sides, with John Bowne still in the lead by one point. The score was now 25-24 and Serena was up to serve the ball. He hit it over the net, and another member hit it back. Michelle bumped it up and as one of the opposing team's members spiked it back, Taran yelled from the stands "Punch it like you punched me Medea!". Medea balled up her fist and punched it, so that it barely went over the net and touched the ground before any player could reach it. With the score tied, Serena served the ball again. This time it went high into the air and a player on the other team knocked it over. Medea knocked it back, and it came back to her again. She hit it straight up into the air and Suraiya knocked it over. The ball was hit back over and one of the players on Medea's team spiked it down, scoring the winning point.

_As my team rejoiced in their win, I realized that Taran played a big role in our victory. It seemed that he ignited some spark in me that pushed me to play my very best. That's when it hit me, when another teammate hugged me, I was still in pain from sealing _THE JUMP_. I had played through my pain and now it was a hundred times worse. I couldn't do anything about it though, because the audience had not seen me get hit with the ball, much less witness something that would hurt this much. They had been frozen by who knows what. I have a feeling it was the same person that had been watching me that day. Kero had said that it takes a lot of power to freeze time, so this person must be very powerful. Maybe whoever is involved just froze the room and not time itself. Even so, Suraiya was not affected by the magic and as far as I am aware, she has not one ounce of magic within her. She helped out a great deal today though, as she has on other days. I am very grateful to have her as a friend. I don't think I would be able to do this without her and I can't even imagine where I would be without her. As she helped me limp out of the gymnasium, I realized that I had to be the one to break Michelle's toast as well as almost everything else in my body. _


	5. Chapter 05 Forget Me Not Part I

_I almost had the wind knocked out of me this evening. I didn't even think that a Sakura Spirit would attack so suddenly. It didn't exactly attack me; it just showed itself so blatantly that nobody could expect it. I was on my bed doing my homework while Kero played video games and this strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew my book closed. Now any wind that can blow **my **ap history book closed that fast is way too strong. Once my book closed, the room was silent. The curtain just blew slightly as Kero and I stared at each other. Simultaneously, we got up and I grabbed the Star key from my nightstand. My uncle was home, so I couldn't go through the front door. So I did what normal teenagers were used to doing: sneaking out through the window. Of course, I can't be officially magical unless someone notices me and points out how suspicious I look. _"Well, don't you look suspicious." _It was the last person in the world I expected and wanted to see. Zahur. I felt like saying "Don't you deserve a Nobel Peace Prize?" 'Cause you know, there's nothing to suspect. I just thought the door was so traditional and decided to try something new. Why is he near my house anyway? I asked him that exact question and replied "_Because I live across the street from you_" as if though it was the most obvious thing in the world cause, you know, I walk past him every morning and say hi. I've never seen him there in my life! I didn't even know new people moved in across the street. Then Kero pinched me, reminding me about the Sakura spirit. I noticed behind Zahur, in the sky, this huge white bird just flying around as if though birds that big are usually flying in the sky and no one would beg to differ. I feel so sarcastic, I don't even know why. Maybe it's just the way things seem to blend in, and I'm the only one that notices they don't. I ran towards the bird and Kero came beside me. He told me to use _The JUMP_, so I did. Now, I haven't used _THE JUMP _before, so when the little wings appeared on my feet, I jumped up - but I didn't expect to go THAT high. I know, I should've figured since it is called _THE JUMP_, but I wasn't thinking about that at the time. And so I went to try and capture _THE FLY.

Medea and Kero screamed as a huge gust of wind blew them into the bushes of the park. Medea fished her way through and continued to pursue the gigantic bird. Its screech echoed through the air and Medea took cover so it flew right by her.

"How exactly am I supposed to capture that?" Medea asked.

"I can't give you all the answers, now can I?" Kero responded.

"You don't know, do you?"

"Not a damned clue."

Medea ran after THE FLY. She jumped into a tree and then across some houses. She jumped onto the top of a high apartment building and waited for the beast to catch up. THE FLY screeched through the sky, flying by without noticing her. She jumped across onto the bird and grabbed it's feathers so that she wouldn't get blown off. The wind was exhilarating as it hit her face.

"Use THE FIREY!" Kero called out, hoping that Medea could hear her. Medea closed her eyes and held the wand straight up in the air. "_Spirit of _THE FIREY, _I summon your powers from within me. Emerge now and obey my command! _RELEASE" Bright orange ribbons emerged from the Medea and took the form of THE FIREY. "FIREY! I command you to submerge THE FLY in your flames!" THE FIREY moved around the bird creating perfect rings of fire around it. THE FLY screeched in agony and Medea was flung off by the chaotic movements of the beast. Medea reached the floor and leaped off her feet back into the air so that she was face to face with THE FLY.

Medea raised the wand into the air while chanting, "_Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! FLY!_"

THE FLY gave one final echoing screech of pain and fury as it burst into ribbons and yielded to Medea. Once the ribbons disperse, Medea jumped back onto the ground and returned everything, including the wand, to their hidden forms. And finally, they went home.

* * *

The next morning did not feel like the morning before Halloween. The sun was shining bright and the weather was quite warm for the last day of October. Medea walked up the hill to school thinking about how this years' Halloween would not be as fun since it was not on a weekend. Suddenly, Kero popped out of her bag and stopped her. "Do you feel that?" he asked.

Medea closed her eyes and concentrated, knowing that he could only be talking about one thing. She felt that most famous feeling inside and told Kero that she did. When she opened her eyes, she noticed the house. It was very old and seemed to be falling apart. The bricks were black instead of red and the windows were dusty. The lawn of the house was filled with weeds, thorns and dead flowers and the staircase was crumpled. There was a dark cloud over the house - only that house.

"Hell no!" Medea cried out, realizing the conditions. "I ain't goin in there! Especially not on the day before Halloween. NOOOO WAYYY!"

"Is that the attitude of the Mistress of the Sakura?" Kero asked, showing disappointment.

"Yes!"

Kero sighed. "Listen, you've battled gigantic birds, and crazed volleyballs, and a psycho swordmaster, not to mention that you have the power of fire, the ability to fence, jump and fly and you come to tell me that you're afraid of some ghost?"

"Nice pep talk," Medea complimented.

"Feel better?" Kero asked.

"Not really." Medea replied, "We'll check it out later on though."

As Medea and Kero walked away from the house, Medea turned back suddenly, responding to a light that she saw from the house at the corner of her eye. Kero asked her what was wrong and she explained that she though she something. The two dimissed it however, and continued with their day.

* * *

The sun began to set beyond the horizon and Suraiya, Medea and Kero arrived at the house. The impending night only added to the eerie aura of the house.

"There are dark forces within this house," Suraiya whispered ominously. "It is said that this house was the house of one of the most powerful covens during the late sixteenth century. Once the coven was exposed, they cast a curse on the house which said that no matter what happened to them, their spirits would continue to live throughout the house. As years went by, families moved out as quickly as they moved into the house claiming that it was haunted by the spirits of the four witches of the coven. Hm, probably just a story. You know how those legends are."

Medea gulped and Kero sighed heavily. After laboring up the long, deteriorated stairs, with a load creak the door opened and they entered the house. Inside was completely dark, but in the dim moonlight, Medea could make out torches in the shadows. Without hesitating, she took the star key. "_Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal thy true form to me. This by the covenant, Medea commands thee! RELEASE!_" She then called upon THE FIREY to light all the torches, casting off a brilliant lumination in the room. Inside the house was completely better than the outside. Despite the dust, cobwebs and discoloration, the house was Victorian styled and well decorated in brilliant shades of green, red, gold and white. It seemed that the normal style of the house created an even more eerie mood. Just the idea that the house could be so normal and yet so mysterious scared Medea.

"I can feel it," Kero announced, breaking Medea's admiration of the room, "It's upstairs."

Suraiya was the first to move, followed by Kero and Medea. They slowly walked up the creaky steps and entered the first bedroom they saw. The room was enormous and contained a king-sized bed in the middle accompanied by a gorgeous antique grandfather clock, a fireplace, an exquisitely designed vanity set and an antique chair that was big enough to be a throne.

"These people must've been rich," Suraiya commented, "To be able to afford all of this."

"What is all of this doing here though?" Medea thought outloud, "Shouldn't the house be empty?"

Medea walked around the bedroom examining every single detail. Medea walked up to the mirror and wiped the dust off of it. She glanced at herself in the mirror and watched as her reflection shifted into the reflection of a ghostly young woman. The woman reached out and grabbed her as she screamed. Kero and Suraiya turned around to face her, and saw her being pulled into the mirror before they could reach her to help.

Suraiya walked up to the mirror and banged on it, trying to see if she could enter it. Once she realized that she couldn't, Suraiya said, "She still must be in the house. We have to find her!" Kero and Suraiya turned away from the mirror towards the threshold of the door. Suddenly, a very light blue mist, close to white began to encircle them. It swirled around them going through their heads. They closed their eyes, and as the mist dissipated, everything went black.

* * *

Medea opened her eyes and looked around to see that she was in a ritual room. There were crystals, stones, athames, chalices, wands, pentacles and other ritual items. There was a circle painted on the ground that contained symbols, some Medea recognized to be planetary and zodiac symbols. As she walked towards it and stood in the middle, the circle began to light up. At each of the four points in the four cardinal directions, a mist that turned in the figure of four different young women appeared. Medea continued to stand tall, even though she was mortified at the moment.

"I'm gonna die, ain't it?" Medea asked the four ghosts.

The red ghost to the south of her replied, "No. You are here because this is where you belong."

"All magickal beings belong here," the blue ghost to the west continued, "And you are quite the magickal girl."

The green ghost to the north began to speak, "You will find that this is not the first and the last time you will come here."

"What do you mean?" Medea asked.

The yellow ghost to the east answered her, "This place is a -museum- if you will, for all wisdom in magick."

"Here you will find all the answers that you seek," the blue ghost continued.

The green ghost came towards her and began to explain, "Right now your mission is to capture the spirits that you have released. While these spirits cause trouble, they are not evil. But that doesn't mean that you'll will never cross paths with it."

The blue ghost came to her side, "Your friends will be by you always, as will we. They will grant your courage and purpose, we will grant you wisdom and insight. You will learn the arts of the world that we have gathered here, to defeat an evil we could not defeat."

"Weren't you persecuted for witchcraft?" Medea inquired.

The yellow ghost shook her head. "We were. But it was by the very same evil force. He knew we would not hurt innocent people to defeat him, and so we enchanted the house, so that are spirits live on within them."

"He still lives today," the red ghost continued, "And he controls the world, just not in any way you could see him. We need you to combine the strength your magick with the wisdom of ours. You can always come to this very room, through the mirror in your room."

"Just call out to us and we will here you." As the blue ghost finished talking their voiced began to echo and Medea began to feel drowsy. "Vesta of the Southern Flame..." Her voice faded off as the red ghost went back to her point and transformed into a flame before burning into nothing. "Isis of the Western Rivers.." The blue ghost went to the west where she turned into a wave of water that disappeared, "Nepthys of the Northern Sands.." the green ghost disappeared in the north after transforming into sand, and finally the yellow ghost of wished Medea well before saying "Aradia of the Eastern Winds" and turned into a slight breeze before disappearing into the darkness.

Around Medea was completely silent until finally she regained her consciousness and saw nothing but the moonlight pouring into the darkness. Medea looked through the whole house before noticing that Suraiya and Kero were gone. "Hmm, that's weird. They must've left," Medea said to herself. "I should call them to let them know that I'm all right." Medea called Suraiya on her cellphone.

"Hello?" Suraiya answered.

"Hey, just calling to let you know I'm fine. The weirdest thing happened to me-"

"Who is this?" Suraiya asked with an attitude.

"It's Medea!" she replied, unsure why Suraiya wouldn't recognize her voice by now.

"Medea?" Suraiya asked again, pondering the name, "Who the hell is Medea?"

"It me! You know, you're best friend."

"Um, I really don't know who you are."

"Are you serious?"

Suraiya hung up the phone and Medea called Kero, but there was no answer. She tried again, but still he didn't pick up.

Medea left the house and tried to transform the key so that she could use THE FLY to go home. However, no matter how many times she tried, the key wouldn't respond to her.

"It's as if it doesn't recognize me," Medea said to herself.

Medea took the bus home and entered her house with the keys. Her uncle was in the living room and she greeted him. He jumped up and asked who she was.

"Um, I'm your niece." Medea replied.

"I don't have a niece," her uncle said and by the way he said it, Medea could tell that he wasn't lying. "Get out of my house."

"But you have to know me! I'm your niece! I live upstairs in the room across from the bathroom! My dad was your brother and died when I was young! Please! You know me! I know you do!"

"Get out of my house before I call the cops."

Medea left the house tears pouring down her eyes. She sat on the steps in front of her house and cried, "No one recognizes me. It's like no one remembers me." She curled herself up on the step and shivered in response to the cold breeze. Medea huddled in closer and cried until she eventually cried herself to sleep.

_As I laid on the cold step, I felt my own tears freezing my cheeks. I had regretted not wearing a jacket; I could've probably used it as a cover. But as I laid there, freezing, with no place to go and no one to care for me. There was nothing for me to do but cry. At times, I felt it was all I had left. It did not take long to occur to me that I did not have a place to go. I could not even get to the mirror in my room to go to the house of the four spirits and spend the night there until I figured all this out nor did I have enough money to take the bus and go. The hunger was feverish and the exhaustion was burning. But no words could describe the pain I felt as the cold wind attacked my body. I had no one, no one who would recognize me, no one who would care for me: not my best friend, not Kero. Not even the star key provided me warmth. Instead it felt like a block of ice weighing down my emotions furthur. Nothing could provide warmth. Nothing would provide warmth. I was all alone. _

**To be continued**


	6. Chapter 06 Forget Me Not Part II

_Once I reached the point where no tears would leave my eyes, I fell asleep. The dream I had that night was indescribable. At first, the dream started out cold; I was in the House of the Four Spirits. The spirits were present, as so were Kero and Suraiya and someone else, shrouded in darkness. They were watching me, and I was watching someone else. Standing in the full moon's effervescent beam was a tall figure with huge wings and long silver hair. He extended forth his hand and I felt myself being pulled toward him, into him and it was freezing. I felt as if though he was choking me, taking my life away. I couldn't breathe and felt myself losing consciousness. But then my dream changed. It wasn't a smooth change, but rather blatant; I could tell that they were different. In the first dream, focus was on the figure who stood in the moonlight. In the second dream, focus was on the darkened silhouette of someone that I know I have seen before. He seemed to be reaching out to me, his arms opened and I felt myself being drawn into him. He wrapped his arms around me and I was overcome by warmth. My body felt like it was on fire and my heart was racing. As light came into my dream again, I saw myself standing on a cliff surrounded by mist, staring at the stars and the darkened moon and I knew I was in a different realm. I was dressed in fine robes befit for someone of high status colored in dark emerald, white and gold. I felt someone standing by me, but I didn't know who it was. I never looked back to stare at him directly, instead, I leaned on him and he kissed my forehead and I was at peace..._

The warmth of the sun in combination with a door opening woke Medea. She stretched then opened her eyes, surprised that she didn't see her room. Medea jerked out of bed and saw the person she least suspected to see. He set a bagel with warm coffee onto the nightstand next to Medea and wished her a good morning.

"What happened?" Medea asked, still a little bit drowsy.

"I saw you sleeping on the sidewalk and I felt bad," he answered, "I normally wouldn't have done anything, but you were crying and you were too well dressed to be homeless. And something inside of me wouldn't let me leave you there. So I figured I would give you shelter for the night. What is your name by the way?"

The smile on Medea's face faded, "You don't remember me."

He smiled warmly, "Hmm, maybe I don't. I feel as if though I know you however. Maybe I truly have forgotten."

"My name is Medea," she said, sadly.

"Well, Medea," he said, "I hope you like a bagel with cream cheese. I'm not much of a cook, so this is all I can offer you."

"It's fine," Medea sighed happily. She felt content that he could be so kind to her when he wasn't even sure if he knew her. But Arlen was that type, always kind to others. It was at times like these that he seemed most handsome and Medea couldn't help but to admire him. But her spell was broken by the doorbell. Arlen left to answer it and Medea picked up her coffee to sip it.

A slight wind blew, swaying the curtain in towards the room and a cloud overcast the sun causing the room to become dark. Medea took a sip from her coffee and said is a low voice, "You have been watching me all night."

A figure from the shadows stepped out and replied "I have been watching you ever since the seal on _The Sakura _broke."

"What do you want from me?" She took another sip from her coffee as the figure gave a breath of laughter, "Nothing. It is what I was sent to do that you should be worried about. But right now, you need to be worried about the task at hand: capturing the spirits you unleashed. Especially the one whose power is in play at the very moment we speak."

"Why does that concern you?" Medea voice remained calm, as if though she talked to him every day.

"You need to finish your first task before you are able to take on me." He began to walk toward her and it seemed that the shadows followed him. "Memories determine reality, Medea, to an extent at least. If no one remembers you, than you don't exist."

"Meaning..." Medea waved her hand signaling for him to get to the point.

"Meaning..." he continued, "You are running out of time Medea. Not only does this card erase your memories, but it can erase _you_ as well. If you do not capture this spirit before 24 hours since the spirit first appeared, then you will no longer exist. And I'd hate for that to happen. After all, I'm looking forward to seeing the full extent of your powers."

The shadows vanished as the sun returned light and Arlen returned to the room. Medea took another sip of her coffee and then set it down on the table. "I have to go."

* * *

Medea didn't know exactly how she was going to do it, but she knew what she had to do. The only one that would be able to help her here is Kero, and given the fact that she still has keys to her house, getting in contact with him wouldn't be too hard. Getting through to him, however, would. Luckily for her, her uncle's car wasn't in the driveway which means he went to work. Medea entered the house and walked up the stairs to her room. Kero was flying around, frantically muttering about the missing Sakura cards. 

"Kero!" Medea yelled, getting his attention.

"Who are you?" he asked rudely.

"Not important now, you probably won't even remember me - wait a minute!" Medea glanced at _The Sakura _and instantly got an idea. "Watch this!" She picked up the sealed book and tried to open the seal, but it wouldn't budge. _Dammit, _she thought, _if the star key and wand don't recognize me, The Sakura wouldn't either. _

"You can't break the seal," he sighed, "Only the chosen one with magical powers can."

"I am the chosen one," Medea insisted. She focused on the seal of the book and meditated on it, feeling the magic inside of her rise. So long as she existed, her magic still existed and she could tap into it. Echoing inside of her, Medea could hear the mantra that she would call on to activate her power:

_My virtues are infinite,_

_My vices are void, _

_My magick is boundless_

_My soul is pure_

_My mind is inconquerable_

_My spirit is invincible_

_I will endure all but defeat_

_I will never concede_

"Open." At her word, the seal broke lose without her even having to touch it and a wave of power pushed Kero back as if though some great power source had been tapped into. In all the years he has been alive, Kero has never seen such power. Whoever she was, he believed her and was guaranteed his loyalty.

Kero bowed his head to her in respect, "What is it that you ask of me?"

"A card that erases memories and people," Medea explained, "It has made everyone forget about me and soon I will no longer exist. I am running out of time. We have to go back to the house and seal it."

"The Erase Card," Kero replied, "No doubt. But once it has used its magic on you, it will not come to you again. You have to break its magic somehow."

Medea would've asked how to, but deep down, she already knew. She had to somehow try and get someone to remember her. She has already tried Kero, but he was no good. She could try Arlen, but their bond wasn't that strong. Suraiya doesn't even know her. But then again, they had the strongest bond and if anyone could do it, Suraiya could. So, Medea and Kero left the house to look for Suraiya.

"Well, I haven't seen you before."

"Oh no," Medea sighed. She turned around and knew exactly what she was in for. Plus, the fact that he didn't remember her made things words.

"If I had seen you before, you'd be mine right now." Zahur definitely wasn't shy when it came to flirting, which was not necessarily a good thing.

"Had I seen you before, I would've had nightmares," Medea retorted.

Zahur sneered, which Medea found to be creepy. "So you admit that you dream about me."

"O.K. I really don't have time for this, nor do I want to see where this will lead. I think I have already been scarred for life." She began to walk away, before taking one look back. "Definitely don't want to remember this."

Medea walked away and turned around the corner of the block leaving Zahur standing alone. She shook his head after staring at the house. "You have a long way to go before you reach my level."

Medea sped walked trying to get as far away from Zahur as she could. "This has officially been the freakiest Halloween I have ever had. Just that alone was enough! I'm done! I'm retiring!" She walked up the block and noticed Suraiya walking in her direction.

"Suraiya!" she called.

"Can I help you?"

"O.K.," Medea started, "I know you don't think you know me but you do. I'm Medea! You're best friend! We've known each other for 3 years now. You know, I have magical powers, capturing Sakura Spirits and everything. I know this is gonna sound crazy but just yesterday we went to this house and I got separated from you and Kero and I met these four ghosts that explained this really freaky stuff to me. But while we were separated, you must've gotten your memory erased by THE ERASE CARD! And now, in order for me to seal it, you have to remember-"

"Whoa!" Suraiya screamed, pointing at Medea's hand. It was transparent, only slighly visible. Medea was beginning to vanish.

"Listen!" Medea cried out, "Try and remember! Medea! Do you remember what you did last night at around 7!"

"No, I don't. But I remember that you called me last night and it was weird because even though I didn't know who you were, I still had your number stored in my phone. And I have pictures of you everywhere."

That's when Medea realized the extent of THE ERASE's power. It can only erase memories, not the effects that Medea has had, which explains why the spirits are still free. THE ERASE can't change time. "Don't you remember! We were in the haunted house by our school, looking at the room. I was looking into the mirror-"

"Then something came out and grabbed you-" Suraiya called, "then all went blank!" Suraiya's eyes grew wide and she gasped, "MEDEA! OH MY GOD! ARE YOU O.K.!"

"Finally!" Medea sighed with relief.

All of a sudden, a light mist appeared from behind Suraiya. "THE ERASE!" Medea called out. She grabbed the star key and concentrated her power within it. Once the red gem on the key glowed, Medea transformed it into the Star Wand. She rose the wand high above her head and commanded, "_Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! ERASE!_" The mist surrounded Medea and entered her body as the wind blew furiously around her.

Once all was settled, Suraiya grabbed Medea in a big hug. "Oh my God! I don't believe I could've forgotten you! I'm so sorry!"

"Me too!" Kero cried out, tears streaming down his eyes as he hugged Medea too.

"It's all right," Medea sighed, "So long as I'm thought of."

Off in the shadows, the silhouette of the mysterious young man Medea talked to earlier was watching. Before disappearing into the shadows, he commented, "You have a really long way to go before you reach my level."

_As I explained to Suraiya what the ghosts explained to me, I couldn't help but remember my conversation with that guy. How do I know that he is not the evil that the ghosts spoke of? How do I know that that evil did not send him? He did say that someone sent him to get something from me, but what? And why did he have to wait for me to finish collecting the spirits? Perhaps he is after the cards, but all the spirits are inside of me and he wouldn't be able to get them regardless. Then I thought of the dream and of the winged figure in the moonlight. I could not clearly see him and despite how cold and foreboding he felt, I knew he wasn't evil. As I stood on the cliff with the incredible warmth of whoever was behind me, I realized that there may be more to my destiny than being the Mistress of the Sakura. And the magick I displayed today to open the book revealed that I have magick beyond that of the book. The shadowed figure that took me into his arms showed me such kindness and passion that I have never felt before. But he reminded me of the mysterious person I talked to that wished to challenge me, or so it would seem. Right now every thread of my life is entangled in one big knot, and to be able untangle the knot takes time. But even time is uncertain. _


	7. Chapter 07 True Power

_I was not prepared to live another day after the Halloween I just experienced. That was the scariest Halloween of my life. It wasn't the fact that got sucked into a mirror, nor the fact that I met four ghosts, nor was it the fact that everyone had forgotten about me. Nope, what scared me the most was what happened between Zahur and me. I mean, it haunted my every dream - it was just disturbing. I was so scared to face him the next day, but I was able to. It started off awkward at first, but then it got better when I realized he didn't remember it. Thank goodness he didn't remember it! That would've been hell! Anyway, everyday I passed by the house I couldn't help but remember what they had said to me. "_This is not the first and the last time you will come here...You will learn the arts of the world that we have gathered here, to defeat an evil we could not defeat...combine the strength your magick with the wisdom of ours...**to defeat an evil we could not defeat**..._" I can't imagine what greater power lies beyond the spirits. Would I be able to defeat it? Those same words stuck with me night and day and I couldn't help but worry that with each passing tide, that evil came closer to me. _

"How do I know that that evil hasn't already presented itself to me?" Medea asked Kero, who was drinking hot tea.

Kero took a spoon and sipped slightly as if though some great thought had come to him that he was prolonging. "You're really worried about this, aren't you?"

"Geez Kero, don't kill yourself with worry now." Medea replied sarcastically.

"Well, I figure that we have more important matters to deal with at this time-" Kero paused for a moment and then continued, "Like collecting the spirits. If this evil is to come, then we will deal with it when it gets here."

"What if it's already here?" Medea asked.

Kero stopped sipping and stared at Medea. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

Medea thought about the visitor she had last week. The same visitor that appeared at her volleyball practice. She remembered the conversation they had:

_...You have been watching me all night..._

...**I have been watching you ever since the seal on _The Sakura _broke**...

..._What do you want from me?..._

...**Nothing. It is what I was sent to do that you should be worried about**...

"Medea?" Kero called, breaking Medea's thought. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

Medea explained to Kero everything. How often he has been watching here and the words that they exchanged in their conversation. But she decided to leave out the dream. "He's probably watching us right now. He's waiting for me to finish collecting the spirits."

_It can't be Yue_, Kero thought, _he would not show himself until it is time. Who could it be?_ "Why haven't you told me this before!"

"It kinda slipped my mind," Medea answered, "To be honest, it doesn't seem like he wants to hurt me."

"Yet!" Kero voiced changed from calm to booming, "Who knows what this guy was sent for! He might try to kill you! Especially if he knows about the Spirits! You have to be careful from now on!" Kero took a couple of deep breaths before returning to his normal tone, "I guess he won't try anything until you finish collecting the Spirits. So right now our main focus will be that, but keep him in the back of your mind, and watch out. He may be more powerful than all of us."

* * *

Medea was passing by the neighborhood at her school to run a few errands. On her way back home, she passed by the house she visited on Halloween. Medea stopped to stare at the house, and couldn't help but think of all that she had dealt with those two nights. Everyone's words echoed through her head._ You will find that this is not the first and the last time you will come here...I figure that we have more important matters to deal with...I have been watching you ever since the seal on The Sakura broke...He might try to kill you...to defeat an evil we could not defeat...what I was sent to do that you should be worried about...He may be more powerful than all of us...I'm looking forward to seeing the full extent of your powers..._

"Medea?" The soft tone and gentle touch of Taran pulled Medea away from her worries. He put his hand gently on Medea's shoulder, causing her to brush slightly. "Are you all right?"

* * *

Medea and Taran sat on a bench in the park and watched a couple of small children play soccer. Medea's face was redder than an apple, but Taran didn't seem to notice. He just sat next to her and took in the fresh air. "How are you?" He asked after taking in a deep breath.

"I've had better days." Medea decided to answer truthfully, since it might do her good to talk to someone else other than Kero.

Taran turned his head to look into Medea's eyes, "What's the matter?" Although seeing this side of Taran was something that Medea wasn't used to, she welcomed his sympathy and care whenever he showed it. It gave her the feeling of a thousand butterflies fluttering vigorously in her stomach.

"Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a task given to you?" Medea asked, "Up to the point where you didn't want to do it anymore?"

Taran looked at her warmly, sending her temperature to the moon. "Did you want to do it to begin with?"

Medea thought about it for a while. "In a way. I kinda did, and I kinda didn't. It was just something I had to do and although it seemed like it would be fun, there was just a lot of sacrifice involved in it."

"How is that any different from now?"

"The stakes have rose, so to speak," Medea replied, "There might be more sacrifices that I have to make that may not be worth it."

"Well, why do you have to do it?"

"It's like a responsibility," Medea explained, "I have to do this to make up for a mistake that I made. But I also have to do it for other people, to help them and save them."

"And you think that whatever sacrifices you have to make aren't worth that?"

"No," Medea said quickly, "It's not that, it's just that...that-"

"You're scared." Medea looked at Taran who came in closer to her knowing that he hit it right on the button. She could feel the warm vibrations from his body just as strongly as her heartbeat. Taran took her hand and held it, and Medea began to sweat. "It's O.K. to be scared, Medea. But you have to understand that fear only stops progress and prevents happiness. The enjoyment that you originally sought in your task is there, you just have to learn to look past your fears and find it. But if you chose to stop whatever it was that was given to you to do, be sure that you truly want to, and that you're stopping, not quitting. Because the Medea I know would never quit, nor would she let fear get the best of her. Do you understand?"

Medea nodded her head too lost in admiration to say a word. She just stared at him with affection and he reached in to hug her. His embrace was strong yet gentle, and she felt safe within his arms, so safe that she didn't want to leave. Medea absorbed the moment and wondered if this was the perfect time to tell him how she felt about him. _Fear could prevent happiness_, Medea thought and when Taran released her, she called his name, "Taran?"

"What is it?" he asked, his eyes glimmering as he stared into hers.

"There's something I need to tell you-" Medea looked at him once more before looking down, "Um...O.K...I...uh...I...um...I have-"

"Are we interrupting anything?" Zahur announced as loud as possible with Arlen by his side. Medea's expression turned cold as Taran stood up to greet his friends.

"Are you sure he's not gay Medea?" Medea mumbled to herself before greeting Arlen, and Arlen alone.

"What? Can't say hi?" Zahur asked sitting next to her.

"No." Medea replied monotonously.

"And here I was thinking that we were friends!"

"Who gave you that false impression?" Medea asked rhetorically.

Zahur just smiled devilishly at her and Medea ignored it. "Hmph. Not like you could be of any use to me anyway."

Medea shivered remembered what happened on Halloween, "Just because I choose not to help you doesn't mean that I'm not of good use to you. I can be very useful, you'll just never know, now will you?"

"Hmm. You're right, I probably will never know, but that's mostly because I don't want you."

Medea laughed, "Yeah right, like I-"

"I need to take her for a couple of minutes." Suraiya appeared out of nowhere, and pulled Medea off the bench, dragging her into the forest.

"What happened?" Medea asked once Suraiya let go. Kero was floating left and right, looking in all directions.

"A Sakura Spirit," Suraiya replied, "Don't you sense it?"

Medea closed her eyes and concentrated within her. She felt the feeling of magick near her and distinguished that it was coming from the East. "This way!" she cried out and Suraiya and Kero followed her.

The ran through the forest to another open area of the park, which was completely deserted except for some people who seemed to be trapped in a circle with terrified looks are their face.

"What's going on here?" Medea asked the people, who were too frightened to speak. Suddenly large exploding noises were heard from behind Medea. She turned around and saw huge footprints in the grass and knew one exploding and forming with every step. "What the hell is that?" Medea ran away from the people and back towards the forest. As the spirit followed her, the other people escaped, leaving the area completely deserted.

The spirit continued to follow Medea, Kero and Suraiya who were now running in circles across the clearing. "I think it's only after me," Medea replied before steering off in another direction. Medea pulled out the key from her pocket and called out to transform the star key into the wand. Medea then called upon THE FLYand zoomed off into the sky.

The spirit stopped in its tracks and Kero flew up to meet her. "Which card is it Kero?" Medea asked staring down at the empty field.

"It's the Power Card!" Kero announced, "In order to defeat it, you have to challenge it to a test of strength!"

"WHAT!" Medea shrieked, almost falling off of her wand. "I can't defeat that in any test of strength!"

"Yes you can!" Kero scolded, "All you have to do is think! Just try to trick it and that will be fine!"

Medea flew down towards Suraiya, who was standing alone in the field. THE POWER already began to move toward them. "I have to challenge it," Medea explained. "Got any ideas?"

Suraiya thought for a moment, "How about volleyball?"

"How about remember THE JUMP and how painful that was," Medea replied, "I want to win, not end up in the hospital."

"Tug of war?" Suraiya suggested. While they were thinking, THE POWER was pulling a tree from it's roots and coming towards them.

"Sakura challenged it to tug of war," Kero told the two, "But then again she had the help of an elephant."

"Well, we're not gonna find that here!" Medea replied.

Suraiya began to look around, "Wow, where is the spir-LOOK OUT!" Suraiya dived back while Medea called upon THE JUMP and her and Kero flew into the air. THE POWER card swung the tree around as if though it were a bat.

Medea came back down again and called out, "POWER CARD! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A RACE!"

Kero and Suraiya both cried out, "A race!" Suraiya ran towards Medea and whispered into her ear furiously, "Are you crazy?"

Medea spoke through her teeth, "You have any better ideas?"

With a load crashing noise, THE POWER dropped the tree and appeared before them. "COOL! IT'S PINK!" Suraiya cried out, "KICK ASS!"

Medea stepped foward, "These are the conditions: through the forest to the stream and back to the edge of the forest. Whoever makes it first wins."

Before soon, Medea and THE POWER took off into the forest. Medea, using the power of THE JUMP cleared the forest with ease. Meanwhile, THE POWER just pushed it's way through using it's strength. Both reached the stream at the same time and started to head back. As THE POWER pushed it's way through a fallen tree at the same time Medea was jumping over it, a piece of the tree hit Medea causing her to fall. THE POWER sped off as Medea quickly got up and endured the pain to try to catch up to THE POWER. It was now close to the end of the forest and Medea had no way of catching up. Without hesitation, THE POWER tripped over a log and fell to the ground. Medea jumped over the log and passed the edge of the forest before THE POWER could even get up.

"You did it!" Suraiya and Kero cheered.

Medea walked back to THE POWER who now sat on the floor and sulked with loss. Medea took her wand from Suraiya and held it above THE POWER's head. "_Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! POWER!_" The spirit of THE POWER burst into a dozen ribbons and surrounded Medea before disappearing. Medea sighed with relief before falling on the floor with exhaustion.

* * *

Medea went into her backyard alone that night, knowing what she was looking for. She stood in the center and looked up at the full moon slightly hidden behind a tree. She stared up at the tree, waiting for something. Then she saw it, a shadow passed through the moon as quick as the blink of an eye. Normally no one would notice it, but she had been watching for it, waiting for it.

"You're here," she said with a confident smile on her face.

"I'm impressed," he replied, approaching her from the shadows. "Not only were you able to sense me, but you have enough courage to be in my domain." He looked down at the shadows that surrounded Medea.

"Why are you helping me?" Medea asked, getting straight to the point.

"How do you know I'm helping you?" He circled around her perpetually, examining her.

"That log wasn't there at the beginning of the race," Medea explained, "Someone put it there. You did. I sensed your magick."

"You impressed me yet again dear Medea," he said, stroking her hair. "I am indeed helping you, so that you can get this done faster, leaving more time for you and me."

"To do what?" Medea turned her head to look behind her, and he quickly moved in front of her.

The figure's arm slipped across her waste as he pulled her closer to him. His head dropped to her ear and his voice became a slight whisper, "When the time comes, you'll see." She fell back as the arm became the shadow, stealing away her support. "Just continue capturing the spirits - do what you do best and continue to impress me - I just might go easy on you."

The silhouette of his figure blended in with the shadows and a soft breeze blew. As the shadow moved across the full moon, Medea entered her house, knowing that he was gone.

_There was something about him that seemed familiar to me, and something else that seemed distant. I had enough courage to face him that night and when I did, I knew for certain that he wouldn't try to hurt me anytime soon. That set a load off of my mind. After our meeting that night, he officially became tomorrow's problem. It seemed more that he was trying to seduce me, rather than kill me. But then again he's evil and evil is seductive. Besides, he could not take my interest away from Taran. I like him a lot, I really do. Talking to Taran that day changed me. Not only did I feel more connected to him than ever, but I also gained a lot of things I was missing before. That talk with Taran gave me a lot more than confidence. It gave me security within my power and a new approach towards things. I was ready to take on whatever was thrown at me, even if it would kill me. This new found courage gave me determination and purpose, and I truly know now what it is to feel powerful. _


End file.
